


Of Dogs & Dates

by quartetship



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pets, Probably kinda dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 05:52:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4210434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartetship/pseuds/quartetship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[More than anything, he wanted to show Marco that he wasn't alone.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Dogs & Dates

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hachidorikun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hachidorikun/gifts).



> A very happy birthday to my sweet friend, Hachi, who asked for eremarco, dog-sitting, and a pup named Goliath. Hope this hits the right notes; I'm feelin' a little rusty, lately.
> 
> (This is also a prequel to [these two](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2761031) [erejeanmarco fics](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3381635) but can also stand alone!)
> 
> Feedback welcome; hope you enjoy!

It began with a pink slip, a summer of financial insecurity, and Eren Jaeger desperately looking to pick up extra cash, any way he could.

And a dog.

Eren’s sister had suggested dog-sitting as a way to earn some money, and despite hating the idea at first, Eren hated the thought of having to move in on her even more. So he kicked his pride under his threadbare futon and listed himself for hire to the folks in the snobby neighborhood just a few blocks over. His first few jobs were hours of listening to poodles and Pomeranians yap, but he brought along headphones and reminded himself that he was being paid mostly to sit on his ass and pet a dog every now and then. At least it was work.

But what he didn't expect was to get a call from someone he actually knew, someone who really wasn't part of the flaky upper crust of people who usually paid him. He didn't expect to run back into Marco Bodt, an old friend from high school, at the other end of a leash. And he certainly never expected to be drowning in dog hair the way he was by the end of his very first day with Marco’s dog.

Goliath, an aptly-named, unusually large Saint Bernard, was a ‘gift’, as Marco liked to put it. A former show dog who’d been turned out after he stopped winning prizes, he'd landed in Marco’s possession as an expensive burden. But Marco, ever the optimist, didn't seem to see him that way. Eren wasn't sure he'd ever seen a dog more doted upon, even amongst the pricey pooches owned by his other rich employers. ‘Golly’, - as Marco usually referred to him -  might have been the one on the leash, but from the moment Eren saw the two of them together, he could tell Marco was completely wrapped up in being a pet parent.

“He's a really good dog,” he promised Eren, packing the last few things he needed to take with him on the business trip that would leave him in need of Eren’s services. “He's just needs a little attention, but he's not too much work.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Eren waved a hand dismissively, dropping backward onto Marco’s couch. “You go take care of big business man things, and I'll watch your dust mop, alright?” When Marco raised an eyebrow and frowned, Eren laughed. “Kidding. He's in good hands, okay?”

Marco nodded. “Assuming I come back to my dog in one piece, why don't we have lunch once I get home and catch up?” He hauled a bag onto his shoulder, eyeing his watch. “It's been forever. You still like pizza?”

“Who in their right mind just _stops_ liking pizza?” Eren snorted. Finally, Marco smiled.

“Fair point. See you in a week.” With that, Marco was out the door, gesturing one last time to the spare set of keys he'd left for Eren. Maybe it was the promise of rekindling an old friendship – maybe it was Marco’s megawatt smile – but Eren had never wished a week away any faster.

Especially a moment later, when Goliath took it upon himself to hop up onto the couch beside him, and bury Eren’s face in an avalanche of fur.

\--

Checking in on Golly wasn't exactly Eren’s favorite task. He was silent and almost standoffish, until Eren would take a seat on Marco’s couch, where he would quickly be treated to a lapful of heavy, hairy dog. Add to that the third day of his pet-sitting when Goliath was startled by his arrival and nearly bit his shoe in half, attacking him at the door, and Eren was ready to tell Marco that he would never watch his dog again, no matter how much he offered him.

But then Marco got back, and smiled sweetly as he paid Eren more than he'd promised, before offering to take him to lunch, and suddenly Eren couldn't remember why he was so irritated.

Conversation came naturally between them as they shared a pizza, laughing at old jokes and following up on everything they used to know about each other as kids. Marco was still abnormally into airplane mechanics, Eren was still obsessed with dinosaurs, and they both still hated horror movies. The question that kept pushing its way to the forefront of Eren’s mind tumbled out of Marco’s mouth before Eren even had a chance to ask it himself.

“So are you dating anyone? Married, anything like that?”

Eren laughed, unable to stop himself. He held up his bare left hand and wiggled the fingers, and Marco mimicked him.

“Me either,” Marco grinned. “Kinda broke my mom’s heart a few years ago when I told her I wasn't plannin’ on getting married.”

“Aw, why not?” Eren joked. “Disney prince like you? I bet girls line up for a chance at that.”

“Doesn't really matter what girls do,” Marco said, shifting in his seat. His voice was suddenly tighter, quieter, and Eren wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. Marco shrugged. “I'm gay.”

“Oh.” Eren said it quickly, and Marco’s face fell. It dawned on Eren that his response probably sounded negative, that he probably seemed put off, and he nearly jumped out of his seat trying to correct himself. “ _No no no,_ that's totally cool. Sorry, I just… didn't know, is all. Were you gay back in high school?”

“I mean, I guess. Didn't really figure it out until college.” He scratched anxiously at the back of his neck. “Sorry, you probably don't wanna hear about--”

“I'm bisexual!” Eren unintentionally _shouted,_ drawingthe stares of more than a few of the old folks, dining at tables around them. He slowly closed his mouth, only realizing it had been hanging open when Marco bit his lips together to keep from laughing at the way he was gaping back at him. “So, uh. It's cool, you know? No big deal.”

“Good to know,” Marco smiled, and there was something more than relief in his tone, though Eren was admittedly a bit too embarrassed to recognize what it might have been.

“So, uh – w-why the dog?” He stammered, changing the subject. “I mean like, why the massive-ass dog, when you live in a one bedroom apartment?”

Marco laughed, and Eren’s chest suddenly felt a little too small for his heart. “I don't know. He keeps me from bein’ lonely. Don't talk to my family much anymore, and I didn't know any of my friends were still around, this long after high school. Besides, he reminds me of myself.”

“Didn't realize you saw yourself as a big, slobbery hairball, but okay.”

“My dog is adorable, thank you very much.”

Eren scoffed. “If you like breathing in fuzz every time you sit down, sure.”

“Anyway,” Marco grinned, pausing to let Eren roll his eyes before he continued, “Nobody wanted him, y’know? He was a perfectly good dog, and they just dropped him because he didn't wanna put on a show for everybody, anymore.” Marco glanced down at his hands, fidgeting them before shrugging sharply. “So I could relate. Didn't wanna see him go without the love he deserved, so I took him.”

Eren drew a slow, shaky breath. He hadn't been expecting pizza and drinks to turn into something that left his chest aching, but thinking of Marco, alone and feeling unloved did just that. He frowned to keep from tearing up.

“You deserve love, too, you know.” He tried not to let his words be as heavy with implication as they were, but kept his eyes on the table in front of him, just in case. “But that's… a cute story. I'm glad he has you.”

Marco nodded. “Me, too.”

They finished their meal in relative quiet, and Eren worried that he'd ruined the entire experience. But when the check came, and Marco paid, he smiled across the table at Eren before they left.

“You know, I go out of town once a month. You interested in watching Golly a few more times?”

“Do I get pizza every time I do?” Eren joked. Marco laughed and shook his head.

“If that's what it takes to keep you putting up with my ‘big, slobbery hairball’, then I guess so.”

Eren shrugged, then finally nodded. “Fair trade, I guess.”

They headed home in separate directions, but Eren had already punched three months worth of Marco’s business trips into his phone’s calendar.

\--

Returning for the second monthly dog-sitting job was a little awkward. Things were still somewhat formal, though Marco was far more relaxed than most of Eren’s employers. This time, he'd left a little handwritten note for Eren on the door, with his wifi and Netflix passwords, and Eren made note to thank him for it when he got back. Dealing with Golly was still mildly irritating, but something about Marco’s story about taking him in made the dog’s big, brown eyes a little bit more endearing.

Eren didn't even bother complaining about him when he and Marco met up for pizza on the day of his return.

The next month, things were more comfortable. Eren felt more at home in Marco’s apartment, and Goliath actually seemed to be taking to him a little bit. This time, the note on the door was shorter, but ended in Marco’s phone number, ‘just in case’ Eren needed to reach him for anything. The first text Eren sent him was a picture of himself, half buried beneath Goliath’s fur. Marco sent him back a snap of himself smiling, and soon thereafter, Eren’s phone basically became his Marco Machine.

By the third monthly job caring for Goliath, Eren had come to terms with the fact that he was looking forward to Marco leaving on business a lot more than he should've been, mostly because of the fact that he knew they'd be hanging out when he got back. But lunch didn't seem appropriate anymore, and pizza was definitely getting a little old.

It was on the second day of Marco being away that month that he sent Eren a picture message of himself, just pointing at something ridiculous and grinning like an idiot, that Eren finally admitted to himself that he wanted to take Marco on a _date._ It was about more than food and freaking out old people – Eren wanted to say the right things, for once, and hold Marco’s hand when they laughed. He wanted to lean in close enough to kiss him across the table, and take bets on how many people would stare at them. He wanted to be invited over to Marco’s apartment for _more_ than just dog-sitting.

More than anything, he wanted to show Marco that he wasn't alone, that he didn't need to feel like refusing to put on a show for people would leave him without someone who cared. He wanted to be Marco’s _boyfriend._ But first, he'd have to gather up the nerve to ask him out.

He spent the rest of the week, willingly allowing Golly to bury him in dog weight on the couch as he groaned into the cushions about how on earth he was going to manage _that._

\--

When Marco returned that Friday afternoon, Eren had all but figured out his plan of attack. His chest was tight and his mouth was dry, but he clenched his sweaty fists and cleared his throat.

And then Marco beat him to the punch.

“This may be really awkward in about ten seconds, but I was actually wondering if you'd like to do dinner tonight, rather than lunch.” Marco asked, hands wringing behind his back, even as he smiled at Eren. “Like kind of a… date.”

Eren stared at him for a moment, fists slowly relaxing and hands falling to his sides. Marco’s smile faded, and Eren realized he was giving off the wrong impression again. He shook his head fiercely.

 _“No!_ I mean – _yes!_ I mean – _ugh.”_ Eren dragged hands down either side of his face, Marco taking a step backward to move out of his way, obviously confused. “I mean – _I_ was gonna ask _you._ Gah, why you always gotta beat me to it?”

Marco smiled again, nervously this time. “I, uh – sorry?”

Sighing heavily, Eren shook his head, rubbing his temples hard before finally letting himself smile, too. “Don't apologize. I just – next time something major is gonna happen, you'd better let _me_ do the asking, got it?”

The grin on Marco’s face widened, more relaxed as he nodded. “Noted. So – dinner tonight, then?”

“It's a date,” Eren smiled. “Though – maybe I should run home and clean up, first. I smell like a dog.”

Marco laughed. “Well, if you want, we can make this your last dog-sitting job.”

“Oh, so you were just using your dog to get a date, huh?”

“It seems to have been a very effective method,” Marco smirked. “But I don't want you dealing with my dog any more than you have to. I know he's not your favorite.”

Eren shrugged. “Eh. Actually, he's grown on me.”

“Yeah?” Marco smiled. Eren nodded.

“Mhm. Reminds me of somebody. Somebody I like.”

Marco cocked his head to one side, smiling smugly. “S’at so? Well I will continue to request your services, then.” He stepped into Eren’s space and hovered close to him, looking down just slightly as they came nearly face to face. Eren’s breath hitched for a fraction of a moment, before he made the decision to finally be the instigator of _something,_ and leaned up to close the space between their lips. Pulling back a moment later, he grinned, and wondered if his face was as flushed as Marco’s.

“I’ll see if I'm available,” he said quietly, and Marco only stopped laughing when Eren backed him against the closed door of his apartment for another kiss.

\--

After that, dog-sitting at Marco’s was more like taking a week off to lounge at home. Eren looked forward to his boyfriend’s business trips less and less, but the celebration they always had when he returned was well worth the week without him around. And at least Goliath was there, to keep Eren company.

It wasn't long before Eren was around often enough - doing things _other_ than dog-sitting - that Golly began to believe he _lived_ with them.

And soon after, Marco beat Eren to the punch of asking about _that,_ too.


End file.
